Million Dollar Houses: The Painter
by MakingFrenchFriesInTheSnow
Summary: *Named after a Pierce the Veil song* The wife of a work-centered lawyer develops a "friendship" with an artist hired to paint their home. AU & OOC. Characters: Drew, the lawyer; Clare, Drew's wife; Eli, the painter. There's Crew & EClare interaction. But in the end, obviously it's going to be EClare.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

* * *

_"I've got a secret._

_It's on the tip of my tongue,_

_it's on the back of my lungs._

_And I'm gonna keep it._

_I know something you don't know."_

___"Chelsea Smile" - Bring Me The Horizon_

* * *

Tonight was the night for Drew Torres; it'd be the night of recognition for all of his hard work. His job was having a Company Awards ceremony, and he was certain that he was going to get the Lawyer of the Year award. He was excited.

So there, Drew sat, decked out in a black tuxedo, on the couch waiting for his wife and the one thing that was holding him back from leaving and getting to the Awards on time, Clare; she was taking a long time to get ready, or what seemed like forever to Drew. He constantly glanced at his clock every minute she hadn't descended from the staircase. "God," Drew mumbled, throwing his head back, "hurry up."

Drew was irritated that his wife was taking her precious time to prepare herself. At this time, Drew wouldn't care if his wife just walked out of the house in jeans and a t-shirt. He just wanted to get out. "Clare," Drew yelled, "you're taking forever! We have to get going! Like now!"

Upstairs, Clare rolled her eyes as she listened to Drew try to rush her. She grabbed her purse and a pair of black heels that lay at her bedside and ran down the stairs. Soon as Drew saw her, -red dress, purse in one, shoes in the other- he stood up and straightened out his bow tie. "Finally," he said, walking to the front door.

"You didn't have to rush me." Clare retorted.

"I wouldn't have to rush you if you had just already picked out you outfit earlier like I told you. Then you wouldn't have had to scramble through your closet." Drew snapped back. Clare didn't respond; she just opened the door and walked barefoot to the car with Drew following behind her.

Sometimes, Clare got so sick of Drew's attitude towards her, but she would always just let it go, because most of the time it was her fault; she had forgotten to do this; she had forgotten to do that; she had taken to long to get ready. So on and so on. But other than that, they were good. Good for a solid 8 or 9 years (or so she thought).

Clare met Drew her sophomore year of high school at Degrassi. He being a junior and her a sophomore, she only knew him by reputation: dumb, sexy jock of whom her friend, Alli, had the hots for and was chasing.

Clare had seen him around and thought he was attractive but she never had tried anything on him, thinking that she could not compare to the other girls who were following him around like he was some rock star. So Clare sat back and focused on her studies. One day in Ms. Dawes class she was paired up with her friend, Adam, for a writing assignment, which was a relief because she could not stand any of the other students in the classroom; the girls were snooty and self-centered and the boys were "simple-minded" and total jerks. Adam was her only friend in that class.

One day she was supposed to go over to Adam's house to work on the assignment.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

_Clare sat in the passenger's seat of her mom's car, her mom behind the steering wheel, taking her to Adam's house. "Does Adam even know that you're coming?" Helen, Clare's mom, asks, stopping at a stop light._

_"Yeah. He knows." Clare nodded. "Now after this light changes, keep going straight and enter into the first King's Village entrance you see. Make a left at the first turn in his neighborhood and his house is right there."_

_"Okay, Clare. But call him first."_

_"He said he'd be-"_

_"Call." Helen demanded, as the light turned green and she drove. Clare sighed and whipped out her phone, and dialed Adams number. _

_On the third ring, her mother entered King's Village and Adam had answered. "Hello." Adam greeted Clare._

_"Hey Adam, my m-...I just wanted to make sure that you were home." Clare said. Her mother made a left turn and she spotted Adam's house. "There, Ma." she said pointing to a tannish looking house. _

_"I'm not home, Clare," Adam informed her, "my mom and I just went to the store."_

_"What?!" Clare exclaimed but not too loudly as her mother parks the car in front of the house that Clare had pointed out was Adam's._

_"Yeah, where are you?"_

_"I'm outside your house."_

_"Oh I'm sorry. I'll be back in a bit; just knock on the door and Drew'll let you in. Okay?"_

_"Sure," Clare agreed. "Bye." She hung up the phone and opened the car door. "Adam's going to be back in a little," Clare told her mother, "he said his brother will let me in and I could just wait for him and his mom to come back home from the store."_

_"Okay Clarebear. Call me when you wanna come back home."_

_Clare nodded and shut the door. She trotted up to the Torres' home as her mom drove. She rang the doorbell and waited for the infamous Drew to answer. After several presses or the bell, Drew finally opens the door. Clare becomes stunned by the shirtless Drew standing in front of her. No shirt, no socks, just a pair of basketball shorts and abs; he was practically naked in her eyes, but she couldn't stop staring._

_He smirked at her, he could tell that she -just like every other girl- thought he was hot. "Yes..." he said casually to the seemingly speechless girl._

_"I- I'm doing a project with your brother," Clare got out, still in awe by Drew, "and he said you'd let he in." Drew nodded his head and ushered Clare in. She sat on the couch and Drew sat back down on the recliner that he had fallen asleep in earlier. He threw the covers over himself and grabbed the remote. "Were you sleeping?" Clare asked Drew aloud._

_"Yeah I was watching tv and I doze off." Drew rejoined._

_"Oh."_

_Silence ensued, Clare tried to focus on the tv instead of Drew, but couldn't seem to. She found herself sneaking glimpses of him in the corner of her eye or casually tilting her head to the side. Drew caught on, he could tell Clare was staring at him. He __glanced at her and said ever-so bluntly, "You find me attractive, don't you?"_

_Clare immediately shook her head. "No-no-no." Clare answered, made nervous by his blunt and out-of-the-blue statement/question. Drew smiled; he knew that Clare did in fact think he was cute, she was too shy to admit it._

_"It's okay Clare," he said smoothly, "no ones here to judge you if you confess." Clare rolled her eyes. "Just repeat after me," Drew commanded, "I, Clare, do think that Drew Torres is sexy -I'm just to afraid to say it."_

_"Not true." Clare lied._

_"Is too," Drew teased Clare, "just say it...you know you want to."_

_"Why are you pestering me about this now?"_

_"Because I've never got to ask you, Adam's always here."_

_"Well if you must know-"_

_"Which I must." Drew stated, interrupting Clare. She paused and glared at him. He sat there and accepted her stare down with a smirk. He liked bothering Clare; he thought she looked cute when irritated._

_"If you must know, I do think you're cute. Happy now? Can we get off this topic, and go back to watching whatever is on tv..." Clare turned her direction to the tv. Drew grabbed the remote and clicks it off. Clare whips her head back over to Drew. "Why'd you turn it off?"_

_"You finally admitted that you thought I was cute, this conversation must continue."_

_Clare shrugged, "Yeah and..."_

_"And ...since you think I'm cute, and...I think you're cute -meaning we both find the other attractive-, me and you should hang out sometime."_

_"I dont want to hang out with you, Drew." Clare said flatly. __Drew did not believe her one bit. He stood up, walked over to Clare, and sat down beside Clare. "Oh boy," Clare thought to herself, scooting further away from Drew; Drew scooted closer. "Why are you over here?" She asked._

_"I'm going to convince you to hang out with me." Drew said and Clare scoffed. "Hanging out does not always mean 'hook up'." He assured her, pointing to her the purity ring on her finger. She placed her hand underneath her thigh, and out of sight for Drew."Just give me a chance Clare. I dont bite. Not unless you want me to."_

* * *

After that, and a few more days, Clare did decide to 'hang out' with Drew, and she found out he wasnt as dumb or douchey as people made him out to be; he was quite sweet, and funny, and not as dumb as people thought, considering that she had learned that he was passing all of his classes with nothing lover than a B+. Later after getting to know him even more and him getting to know her, he asked her to be his girlfriend. Ever since, even through college, Drew and Clare stayed together. After Drew graduated from Stanford, and Clare was a senior at Stanford, he proposed to her.

* * *

Drew and Clare sat a table with their friends/Drew's colleague, Connor, Wesley, and Dave; also Adam and Alli, who was now Alli Turner.

They all stared at Gerald Grabowski, Drew's boss who stood at the podium on the stage ready to announce the last award. As he stood there, Clare couldn't help but grin at the way the light reflected off ofhis bald head. Calming down a bit, Clare snaked her hand over to Drew's. She knew this was the moment he had been waiting for. To be crowned the most successful lawyer of the year. He knew he was going to win it considering he had received a huge promotion about 3 months ago.

Buzz. Drew let go of Clare's hand and reached for his phone that had just vibrated in his pocket; he had just received a new text message. "Put you're phone away." Clare demanded. Drew ignored her and read the message anyway. He smirked and looked back at a young woman with dark, curly brown hair, and that wore a black dress, and sat at two tables behind him. She winked at him, causing him to smirk again.

Drew whipped his head back when Mr. Grabowski began to speak.

"All the awards that I have given out, have lead up to this," Gerald spoke, "the Lawyer of the Year award...I have given this award a great deal of thought of as to to who - who I was going to give it to. No, I'm not basing my decision off of any of you who have either been promoted or demoted or even any one of you who haven't been either. This award is going to someone with great stats and someone whose enthusiastic about what he or she -well in this case, he- does. This award I am about to give out is going to go to one of the most hardworking young men I have ever met."

Drew knew it was him, he was getting that award. He glanced back at the women in the back dress, Tori Santamaria, his colleague. After he won this award he was going to be rewarded.

"This man works day and night 5 days a week; Hell, he'd probably work 7 if I'd let him," Mr. Grabowski jokes, earning a roar of laughter from the crowd. "He - he never lets me down, and he is devilishly handsome. Give a round of applause for the new lawyer of the year, Andrew Torres!" A great deal of applause ensues as Drew kisses Clare's cheek and rises up from his seat. He weaves his way through the maze of tables to get to the stage and climbs up the stairs onto the stage. Mr. Grabowski congratulates him with a handshake and hand him a plaque.

Drew walks up to the podium. "Ah," sighs happily, "sweet victory." The crowd chuckles. "But seriously, I dont know what to say. I guess'll just thank people. One, Mr. Grabowski, thank you for giving me this. Two, Connor, Dave, Wesley, Tori, and all of my other co-workers, thank you all for making me look so good." Drew's eyes spot Clare sitting at the table. "And lastly, I'd like to thank my wife, Clare. Babe, you've been with me ever since high school, you've always supported me. I love you."

Clare blushes and Tori wrinkles her nose. _"Drew, love Clare,"_ Tori thought, _"yeah right."_ She did not believe him one bit, considering in about 5 minutes him and her would be having sex.

Before Drew finished his speech, Tori had dismissed herself from her table and went to wait in the hall for Drew.

Drew spotted Tori leaving and tried to rush off of the stage. "With saying that, thank you for the award." People clap as he leaves off the stage and goes back to his table.

Clare congratulates him.

"Thanks. I got to go to the bathroom." Drew lies. Drew was not going to the bathroom, he was going to meet Tori for a quick one.

Drew and Tori have been having an affair behind Clare's back for 2 months. Drew having an affair was not because he had not loved Clare anymore, or that he wanted to leave her, which he had no intention to. It was just that Tori was young and attractive -not that Clare wasnt. He just found it exciting how they were both co-workers, sneaking around, never getting caught. Exciting. And doing this here, at an event, instead of the office during nighttime when no one was there, or at Tori's place was risky, yet, even more exciting for the both of them.

Drew stepped into the hall and found Tori leaning up against the wall smiling at him. "Ready?" she whispered seductively and opened the nearest door, which was a closet door. She went in and he followed.

* * *

**WHY IS THIS SO LONG?!**

**_Thanks for taking your time out of your busy lives to read this story._**

**_From this point on you may do whatever you like, follow, review, exit out and never visit this horrid story again. Idrc :p_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

* * *

_Speak what we feel, and__ not what we ought to say._

_Well, I'm forever young, a__nd you're forever you._

_So much to say, but nothing to hide._

_Oh, please open it all._

_Soft voice, t__hat whispers lies._

_Who do I lay beside?_

_Soft voice, soft voice,_

_That whispers lies._

_"We Are Life" - Emarosa_

* * *

Clare had just finished making Drew's breakfast, the breakfast that she knew he was just going to simply grab and go.

When she hears thuds on the stairs, she quickly sets his plate on the kitchen table, knowing that Drew was coming down the stairs.

Clare had woken up around 7 a.m. to make Drew breakfast before he left for work at 8:30 a.m.

No, Clare was not a "housewife" who waited on her husband hand and foot, it was just that she didn't have to go to work today and she felt like doing something nice him. She had tried to do something nice for him last night but it hadn't gone the way she had planned.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

_Clare stood in front of the bathroom mirror, dressed in a black lace bra and panties, covered by a silky, lavender robe. They had just came back from the Awards and she had just gotten out of the shower. Her plan was to go back into her and Drew's bedroom, and make love to her husband -something she hadn't done with him in months. Constantly dealing with work, both of them never seemed to have time to fit "sex" into their busy schedules. And also, Clare just missed Drew. He worked Mondays through Fridays, and Clare worked Tuesdays through Saturdays for the Toronto Interpreter; the only time they had together was Sundays and nighttime. And that was never enough._

_But today was Sunday and it was almost midnight, Drew would have to go to work in the morning, so she had to do this quickly._

_Clare tied up her robe, tousled her hair a little, and smiled seductively at her reflection in the mirror. "Lookin' good," she complimented herself internally. She opened he bathroom door and entered into her and Drew's bedroom. She frowned slightly when she saw Drew in a t-shirt, sweats, and his glasses; he was laying on the bed with the laptop on his lap, and his head supported up by a stack of pillows. _

_He was working...and Clare knew that there was nothing that could pull him away. She sighed a little, then, __decided that she would just have to ease him into having sex with her tonight. She strutted over to the bed and layed down like she normally would have, only thing different is that she slithered her body closer to Drew this time. As she nestled her head on his upper arm, he moved it and wrapped his arm around her. "Good," Clare thought, "maybe he's willing to tonight." __Thinking that it was a possibility, Clare began to kiss Drew's neck softly. _

_In response, Drew tilted his head away. "I don't like where this is going." _

_Clare stopped, pulled away, and stared at Drew. __"Why not?" she questioned him, bewildered by how he had just neglected her. "_

_Why did he say that he 'did not like where this was going'," Clare wondered, "? Why wasnt he excited?! We havent had sex in months! "_

_Yes, they -Clare and Drew- have not, but Tori and Drew have..._

_Tonight, Drew could not even think about having sex with his wife after he had just did it with Tori. It didn't make sense to him; the only reason he even started fooling around with Tori was because Clare and him weren't doing anything anymore. __So, now that Clare finally wanted to, he wasnt the slightest bit willing. I mean, he still loved and found his wife incredibly attractive, but being with her intimately would be confusing for him. Because then, where would that leave him and Tori. _

_The reason people have affairs are because they are not having sex or they feel that their partner is not paying them any attention. And Clare was giving him attention, and she wanted to have sex with him. So would he continue the affair between him and Tori? Or end it?_

_Drew shook his head and answered, "I'm working." Which was not true. He was just checking his e-mail and then, he had planned to go to sleep._

_"Work later," Clare demanded, "sex now." She leaned in to kiss Drew's neck again, but Drew tilted his head away again. Clare groaned, "What is the problem?"_

_"I'm working." Drew stated, sternly. _

_Clare scoffed and turned to lay down so that her back was facing him._

_"I-I'm sorry Clare." Drew apologized softly as Clare shut her eyes tightly and did not respond._

* * *

By the morning, Clare had gotten over it, and dealt with the fact that Drew was only doing his job, and he had to respect that. They could do it some other time. She made this breakfast for Drew to say that she had forgiven him.

Suddenly, Drew comes sprinting into the kitchen. He looks like he was in a rush this morning; briefcase in one hand, jacket in the other, tie loose, belt undone, and hair messy and wet from his shower this morning. When Clare caught sight of him she couldn't help but smile. He looked like a total spaz. As he places his jacket on the back of the chair, and sets his briefcase on the table, Clare walks over to him. "In a rush?" she asks jokingly.

"Yeah," Drew answers with a smile and begins to do his belt. As he does that, Clare grabs his tie and starts to tighten it. "Thanks." Drew says and Clare shrugs.

Drew shrugs feels bad about what happened between him and Clare last night; he just didn't know how to act when Clare had thrown herself at him. Drew had got what he had wanted, but he couldn't bring himself to accept it. Instead, he made it seem to Clare as if his work was more important than their marriage.

"Clare, I am sorry bout last night," Drew apologizes and Clare let's go of his tie."It was just that wor-"

"It's okay," Clare blurts, interrupting Drew in the middle of his apology, "I'm over it."

"Okay. Well I have some good news."

Clare raises her eyebrows and grins, "What good news?"

"You know how you said you wanted to get the house repainted..."

Clare's smile fades. She had told Drew this a month ago, and he chose now to bring the subject up out of mid-air and claim it as "good news". Ridiculous, Clare thought, but she decided to just go with it. "What about it?" Clare questions.

"Well, the guy who said he'd do it will be here sometime this week."

"Oh great," Clare cheered. "I was thinking that I'd have the bathrooms repainted, not the whole house. Maybe even my office, too."

"What's wrong with your office and the bathrooms colors." Drew questioned Clare.

"Drew, they're all the same color," Clare pointed out, "just like all the other walls in this house. They're white. Not much color going on here." This was true. Every room in the house's theme was based off of the colors: tan, brown, and white. The outside of their house was tan and brown, too.

"Do whatever you want, Clare, but if I don't like it, it's getting changed back."

"Whatever."

They both laugh as if they both just shared a happy marriage moment. When their laughter dies down, Drew hits Clare with the other side of the news wheel. "Time for the bad news," Drew states, "I'm going out-of-town. Mr. Grabowski is having five of his employees go to New York City to represent him and the company at some meeting. He asked me to be one of the few to go."

Clare frowns, she hated when Drew had to go out-of-town on business.

Drew can tell that she is upset. "Dave's been chosen to go, too; maybe you can hang out with Alli while I'm not here." he suggests, hoping to make Clare feel at least an ounce better. "You guys can have 'girl time' and what not."

Clare crosses her arms. "How long will you be gone?"

"1, maybe 2, days," Drew informs her, "I'm leaving tomorrow."

Clare says "okay" and Drew kisses her forehead. "Well, I should get going," he says while taking his jacket off the chair and putting it on. "I'll see you at 6."

"Okay."

"Also, we gotta go to this art gallery opening tonight."

"Since when are you in to art?"

"I'm not," Drew answers, grabbing his briefcase off of the table. "but Adam wants us to go, because its his friend's and the guy who agreed to paint our house's art gala." This sounded odd to Clare. "So he's an artist, who paints houses, too," Clare thought, "that's ridiculous."

Drew grabs a piece of bacon off of the plate that Clare had prepared for him and says, "I really gotta get going." He takes a bite of the bacon. "Mmm. Clare delicious. Bye." Drew dashes out of the house. And Clare hears the front door open, then shut, she sighs and takes a seat, sitting in front of Drew's plate.

"I guess'll eat this."

* * *

It's an hour before Drew is supposed to get off of work, Clare is sifting through her closet for an outfit for tonight when she hears her phone ringing; she exits the closet and saunters over to her phone that lies on her dresser. She picks up the phone, the caller ID reads "Fenton" as in Douglas Fenton, Clare's boss. She was clueless as to why he was calling her on her day off. She accepts his call. "Hello." she greets him.

"Clare, are you doing anything tonight?" Mr. Fenton asks her.

"I kinda have plans-"

"Drop your plans," he demands. "I need you to write a 300 word article on something."

Clare nods. "Um sure." She grabs a pen and paper off of her dresser, getting ready to write the article's subject. "W-what is it on?" Clare asks.

"There's this art gala opening tonight for a Mr. Eli Goldsworthy. It's going on in downtown Toronto and-" Mr. Fenton's voice cuts off when he hears Clare on the other end giggling. "What so funny?" Mr. Fenton questions.

"Those were my plans for the evening. I was going to that with Drew to support his brother, Adam,'s friend, the painter."

"Clare you are always one step ahead. Well go to that art gallery and e-mail me the article. Don't forget to interview him; ask insightful questions."

* * *

This was a bigger turnout than Eli had expected. The place was packed with all kinds of critics, buyers, and simply viewers. He had already shaken many hands, accepted many compliments, and sold 15 out of 27 of his sculptures and painting.

As Eli scans the crowd, he sees Adam and -what might be- Drew, Adam's brother, approaching him. "Hey Adam," Eli smiles, then looks to Drew, "and...I'm guessing you're Drew?"

"Yeah," Drew says, shaking Eli's hand, "nice to meet you, Eli. I like this set up you got here."

"Thanks. So where's the Mrs.?"

"She's somewhere around here; she supposed to interview you for her job."

"Reporter?" Eli questions.

"More like Toronto Interpreter." Drew informs.

"_Fancy_." Eli jokes. Adam and Drew laugh at the tone in Eli's voice.

"I'll go find her." Drew states and walks away, in search to find his wife.

"And I'll go get more of that fancy cheese stuff I ate when I walked in." Adam adds

Eli furrows his brows. "You mean keish?"

"Yes!" Adam squeals and trots away. Eli smirks as he watches Adam disappear into the crowd. "_Wierd kid_," Eli thought to himself.

As the crowd starts to spread out, Eli catches sight of a (gorgeous) woman. The woman wore a sleeveless chiffon cocktail dress and black jacket with black heels, her light brown hair was pinned up with only her bangs hanging down. She carried clutch purse in one hand and a half empty wine glass. She was standing in front of one of his paintings called _Tortured_, which to most people looked like a swirl of red and black paint swirled onto a canvas, but if you tilted your head a little, you'd see a boy's face and it looked as if he was in pain.

When the lady tilted her head, Eli smiles. "Okay, Eli," Eli murmurs to himself, "just walk up to her. Say hi. Just be smooth." He lets out a deep exhale and begins walking over to the woman standing in front of _Tortured_.

* * *

**Degrassi was awesome tonight. I'm sad that Cam and Maya broke up. And Maya looked like a racoon at the beginning but she really is pretty.**

**I cannot wait for her and Tori's feud next week and Dallas' rapology (that looked funny)**

_**I spent all day trying to figure this story out. If i messed up in spelling and stuff, I'll most likely fix it tomorrow.**_

_**I'm going to sleep.**_

_**REVIEW!**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

* * *

_"Ever since we met,_

_I only shoot up with your perfume._

_It's the only thing,_

_That makes me feel as good as you do._

_Ever since we met,_

_I've got just one regret to live through._

_And that one regret is you"_

_"Nearly Witches" - Panic! At The Disco_

* * *

Clare stands in front of _Tortured._ She tilts her head and examines the painting . _"Creepy,"_ she thought. As she discovered the face of a boy who was within the image. Her eyes narrow to the little scribble at the bottom right corner of the picture. It reads, E. Goldsworthy, in really sloppy and/or rushed cursive. Clare knew that the "E" stood for Eli, the artist.

Clare takes a sip of her wine when a man pulls up beside her to behold the image. She tries not directly look at him, but from her peripheral vision, she can tell that the man has seemingly black hair, pale skin, and is wearing a leather jacket. Curious as to what he really looks like, Clare glances over at him.

Eli notices the woman trying to sneak a peek at him and he smiles, "What do you think?"

Clare freezes. At first, she thought the man was talking about 'what did she think of him', but she soon realizes that he was talking about the artwork. Clare quickly glances at the painting then looks directly at the man. She gives him a grin and he smirks.

Eli, now being able see the woman completely, he studies the woman's face. She was even more beautiful up close to Eli. She had the most sweetest smile and the most beautiful blue eyes that he had ever seen. "Honestly..," The woman starts. Her voice makes Eli melt; but then, Eli notices that she is going to criticize his work and her voice sounds as if it's going to describe his work as horrible. "I find it quite disturbing," Clare admits, causing Eli to smirk.

_"That was sort of the point,"_ Eli commented in his head.

Eli wanted his art to include images that made the weak-stomached feel uncomfortable. He did not want his art to serve no purpose, it was meant to move the viewers in some way. It was supposed to make you think; think about life, love, death...anything.

You were just supposed to feel something.

So the woman calling _Tortured_ was "disturbing" did not lower his confidence in his abilities. If anything, her opinion boosted it.

Clare continues, "But between you and me, after looking at most of the art, I've come to think that the artist has some issues."

"Issues...," Eli questions the woman intensely, thinking that the woman had just insulted him, "you think he's mental?!"

Clare shakes her head. "No, I don't," she declines. "I think he just has a broken heart, you know?" Eli nods his head understandingly and Clare adds, "And he might be just a little bit coocoo."

Eli chuckles, "No, he's not.

"And your name is?"

"Eli."

After Eli states his name to Clare, her eyes light up. "I knew it," she beams. "I'm glad you came over here. I really needed to find you." Clare holds out her hand. "Hi, I'm Clare." Eli shakes her hand and locks eyes with her. All he can see is blue. Her blue eyes. They discontinue their handshake when Drew walks up beside Clare.

"Hey Eli," Drew greets Eli, then wraps his arm around Clare, "I see you've already met my wife."

"_Wife?!"_ Eli panicks inside. He points to Clare and asks, "This...is your wife?"

"Yeah," Drew nods, and Eli finally takes notice to the rock on Clare's ring finger.

"Quite a looker, isnt she?" Drew asks playfully and Clare blushes.

Eli doesnt say anything, he just smiles slightly. He didn't want to tell Drew that he found his wife extremely attractive, and that he had already created sexual fantasies about Clare from the moment he spotted her. Which he did. Eli had planned it out all in his mind: he would go over to the woman, say hi, establish a steady conversation about the art gallery, state himself as the painter, she'd be so impressed that she'd want to sleep with him, he'd take her back to his place, and you know the rest...

"So can I interview you?" Clare asks Eli, who is still in shocked and lost in his own thoughts. "Hello?" Clare says, snapping him out of it.

"Huh?" Eli grunts in confusion. He honestly did not hear a word that was possibly said after Drew announced to him that Clare was the woman that he was married to. "Out of all the women in the place," Eli screamed internally, "Why her!"

Clare restates her question to Eli, "Can I interview you?" Eli nods and Clare smiles. She reaches into her clutch purse and pulls out a tape recorder.

"Wait," Eli blurts. "Not now, it's too loud. We can do this interview when the gallery showing is over. So an hour or two. That okay?"

Clare accepts.

* * *

As everyone is exiting the building, Eli, Clare, Adam, Drew, and the staff remain inside. The staff is cleaning up, Clare and Eli are sitting down and preparing for the interview, and Drew and Adam...they're playing around with Eli's sculpture of a headless naked woman.

"Oh baby," Drew moans playfully, stroking the body of the sculpture, "you're so beautiful."

Adam laughs like a maniac. "Hey Clare," he calls out, pointing to Drew and the headless figure, "Drew's having an affair!"

Hearing _"Drew is having an affair"_ causes Drew to stop playing around with the statue. That phrase scared the hell out of him, since Drew _was_ having an affair. After he had heard Adam accuse him of having one -even though he knew it was just meant as a joke- Drew's heart had felt as if it had come to a halt.

He hears Clare giggle, "Drew wouldn't cheat on me, especially not with a statue."

Drew: Broken.

"C-Clare," Drew stutters. Clare looks at him. For a moment, he was actually considering telling about him and Tori, right there, in front of Adam and Eli, but instead he says, "Me and Adam are going out to get a beer, while you two just do the interview. We'll be back in about 30 minutes. I think there's a pub down the street."

"There is." Adam informs Drew.

"Okay. Let's go." Drew demands. He jogs over to Clare and gives her a kiss on the cheek. "Bye babe." he says, not being able to _not_ to feel like shit saying it.

Adam and Eli fist bump, then Drew and Adam are gone out the door, leaving Eli and Clare alone.

"We should start now," Clare asserted and Eli agreed with a nod of the head.

Clare reaches into her clutch and grabs out her tape recorder and a folded piece of paper that had questions for Eli written down on it. She presses record and reads the first question. "Where do you do your work?"

"My loft, I guess," Eli answers, "I transformed it into an art studio."

Clare studies her paper and shoots another question out. "Which is more important to you, the subject of the painting or the way it is executed?"

"The way it's executed." Eli rejoins with a grin. "There's a lot of ways people choose to make their visual. It can be precise, or it can be exaggerated. Artist's choice."

Clare smiles, "Do you prefer a perfect smooth technique or a more energetic and expressive technique and why?"

For some strange reason, this question made Eli think of sex. Which eventually leads him to the thought of sex with Clare. "Energetic and expressive. And why?...Because it always seems to be perfect and smooth in its own way." he smirks, gazing at Clare in lust. He still wanted her, even though she was a married woman.

Clare knew that Eli was looking at her, but she didn't know why. She is too clueless to see that Eli has a _thing_ for her, and she is only this way because she is married.

Many guys hit on Clare, but she never catches on, because she only has eyes for Drew.

Well the only other guy she thinks about other than her husband is Channing Tatum (A fantasy she knows will never come true).

"And lastly," Clare says, then asks, "why is your artwork so depressing?"

"Did you just ask me why my art was depressing?"

"Yes..."

"Uh, I don't really know," Eli retorts. "Maybe because I am sort of depressed."

"And what makes you this way?" Clare questions, truely interested by this.

Eli shakes his head. "Um...can this not be mentioned in your article?" He asks. Clare agrees and turns her recorder off. Eli places his hands on the table in front of him and intertwines his fingers. "I am depressed," he confesses to Clare, "a couple of years ago, my girlfriend, Julia, and I got into a fight. She had stormed out of my loft and left. I had tried to call her, to apologize to her, but she wouldn't answer any of my calls. At first, I thought she was just avoiding me or something. Later hat night, I was told that she was hit by a car, and that she was dead. Ever since, I've been so upset at myself and I have been coping through my art. All of my anger and sadness is put into my paintings."

Clare couldn't believe that Eli had just told her that, with her being a stranger and all, he still trusted her with this information (Eli couldn't believe it either).

Clare stares at Eli, and she can tell that he is trying his best to hold back his tears. She places a hand on his. "I'm sorry." she apologizes sincerely.

"Yeah," Eli says with a faint smile, getting ready to divulge even more about himself to Clare. "That's not even the worst part," he tells her," I started to move on and get over it. Then one day my body started to feel an overwhelming rush of all sorts or emotions; happiness, sadness, anger, and it'd always change very quickly. My mom had noticed all my mood swings and changes and insisted on taking me to a doctor. When I went, they diagnosed me with bipolar disorder."

Clare's jaw drops. "You seem fine, though."

Eli shrugs, "The medication really works."

* * *

Clare was laying on her bed with the laptop, while Drew showered. She was finishing up her article for Eli. Clare felt so special, because Eli had shared all of that with her. And by Eli's wishes, she left out the personal information in the article. She pressed send and her mind started to race to thoughts of Eli, and how he lost his love. Clare thought of Drew. She didn't know what she'd do if she lost him.

* * *

Drew gets out of the shower and dries himself off with his towel, then wraps it around his waist. He turns the shower's knob, making the water stop. He walks over to the door, exits the bathroom, now entering the connected compartment of his and Clare's room.

Clare closes the laptop and sets it on the empty nightstand as Drew goes over to the dresser and opens the top drawer. He grabs a pair of boxers, drops his towel, and puts them on. Clare does not freak; she's seen him naked, and he's seen her, too (Married for 4 years, Duh!). As Drew slips on his boxers, Clare asks him, "What do you think about us having kids?"

Clare's question surprises Drew. When they first got married, Drew told Clare he wanted to start a family right away, she told him that she wasn't ready to have kids until further along in their marriage. She wanted to focus on work. So every year, he'd ask if she was ready and she'd tell him "not yet".

"I thought you didn't want kids." Drew says gently to Clare.

"I know," Clare sighs, "well, I just said I wasn't ready. But I am now."

"What's the sudden change in heart?" Drew smirks.

"I got thinking, like if I were to lose you...our kids would be a way for me to still have you around."

Drew furrows his eyebrows and questions, "If you lost me? What do you mean?"

"Like a freak accident. What if something happens while you're traveling-"

Drew interrupts Clare. "Clare, you're being paranoid." he tells her, sitting down next to her.

"Am I really? Sometimes paranoia is a good thing. It gets you out of obviously dangerous situations; it helps you at-"

"I don't know about all of that, Clare."

"Well I want to start."

"Start what?"

"Trying for a baby." Clare states.

"You're really serious about this, aren't you?" Drew smiles at Clare. Clare nods. "Well if you're serious, we'll try when I get back on Wednesday."

"No Drew," Clare declines, "now."

"Clare..."

"Drew..."

* * *

**I fell in love with CREW/DRARE when reading "Friends With Benefits" by Halawen. (you just got free advertising:)) **

**Oh but yeah, I'm not sure how long this story will last.**

**10 maybe even less :/**

**I make it up as I go.**

_**I hope you all liked and I love all who followed and reviewed.**_

_**Makes me super-duper happy.**_

_**By doing this story, I am seriously neglecting my "Camp" story. (Sorry to anyone who reads it)**_

_**I'll update it on Tuesday, I work better on week days.**_

_**NO more updates on weekends.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

* * *

_"She starts her new diet, of liquor and dick._

_Just like Hollywood, but laced in sick._

_The sun goes down, and so does she._

_The sun goes down, and so does she."_

_"Pray For Plagues" -Bring Me The Horizon_

* * *

Drew woke up nude and alone, knowing that Clare had abandoned him in their bed to go to work. He didn't mind, he just laid back and thought about the amazing night he had just had. He and Clare had decided to take the next step in their marriage, kids. Clare wanted him and she wanted to create a beautiful child with him. So last night, they did the whole "baby making" process, and Drew had never felt better. And on top of that, he had a dream; a wonderful one:

_It was five years later, he and Clare both looked more mature, and extremely happy. They smiled at each other as they partnered in pushing their four-year-old daughter on a swing set at a park. Drew envisioned the little girl to have long, curly, light brown hair, crystal blue eyes, and a smile that warmed hearts. Drew imagined the child to be a copy of Clare - mini Clare. And he knew, he would love her. He would love her with his all his heart; h__e would love that little girl AND Clare..._

Drew decided that if Clare was serious, he would have to commit. He could not continue his and Tori secret relationship; he'd have to strictly devote himself to Clare, and _only _Clare (something he should have been doing the whole marriage). He knew that Clare could not know that he had been unfaithful to her this whole time. If she found out she'd surely divorce him, and that was a thought Drew could not bare to think about: Clare leaving...

Drew knew once he saw Tori at that meeting in New York he would have to break it off.

Drew glances at the digital clock on the nightstand; it was 7:42 a.m. He would have to be at the airport around 12 a.m. for his flight at 12:30 a.m. He came to a decision and chose to rest in for another hour, or so.

* * *

Drew sits in a room at a long table, his colleagues are lined up next to him. They're all facing their rival law firm, Green & Barns law firm. And as usual, they were arguing over money, or shall I say negotiating; negotiating for almost two hours. Drew loved, and was extremely good at his job. He was a smooth talker, but at this moment, his mouth remained shut. He just listened to the men on the other side as they talked; he tried to listen for any words that could give him authorization to spark an argument.

As Drew tries his hardest to decipher their words, his eyes find Tori down his line. She's planted two seats away from him. She wears a black blazer and skirt and her was pulled back into a bun. Drew uncontrollably licks his lips at the sight of her, suddenly unsure if he should break off the affair with her. He shakes his head to try to get the idea out. _"No Drew,"_ he tells himself, _"Clare is your wife; you love her; you are going to start a family with that woman soon; you must end this with Tori."_

* * *

After the meeting, Drew sits in his room and thinks about how he should his relationship with Tori. He considers doing it over a text, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Drew had always felt ending relationships -or anything for that matter, other than things involving business- via technology was just simply rude. He needed to do this in person. With knowing that, Drew whips out his phone and sends Tori a brief message telling her to meet him.

Immediately after hitting send, he regretted the way the text was worded. _"Maybe she'll get the wrong idea,"_ He panicked internally, _"I'm texting her at night, she's going to think I want to do something with her." _Which was not what Drew had intended. Drew thought of resending her a different message and being more specific, but didn't, in hopes that Tori would not _just _meet him...and nothing else.

* * *

Tori receives a text message and smiles when she notices it's from Drew.

**Tori, meet me ASAP.**

Tori grins after reading the message, so excited that Drew wanted to meet up with her (Tori did not have the slightest clue that Drew was planning on telling her that he could no longer see her anymore). In Tori's heart, she felt something special for Drew and didn't want to be just some mistress of his; she wanted to have him - meaning she didn't want Clare to.

Tori desperately wanted Clare out of the picture. Tori believed she was better woman in every which way. She thought she was more intelligent, more exciting, and way far more prettier than Clare. She was hoping that if her and Drew's affair lasted long enough that Drew would finally come to his senses and realize that he loved her like she loved him, and he'd leave Clare. Even though he claims that he will not leave his wife and that their "affair" was just temporary.

* * *

Drew is sitting on his bed when there's a soft knock on his hotel room's door. Drew knows it's Tori. He exhales deeply and rises off of the bed. He trots over to the door and answers it. When the door is open, he beholds Tori standing there. His jaw drops a bit. She wears the same thing from the meeting earlier, but instead of wearing that white blouse underneath her blazer, she just had on a ned red push up bra underneath the blazer. And her hair is also not in a bun anymore, it flows down.

Drew gulps as he looks at her. She looked absolutely sexy to him. He just wanted to pull her into his room and lock the door behind them.

As the thought ran through him, he suddenly remembered why he had needed to talk to her. He brought her here to end their affair.

Drew opens his mouth to speak, but before he can get a word out, Tori kisses him with force, pushing him and herself further into the room. She shuts the door behind them. Once Drew hears the door click, he becomes aware of what is happening; Tori is expecting sex. Quickly, Drew breaks the kiss and backs away from Tori. "That's not what I called you here for." he says.

A grin appears on Tori's face and she bites her lip. "What do you want to do then?" she asks flirtatiously, slowly walking towards him. She gets close enough to grab his tie and then, uses it as a rope to pull herself even closer. She gets to the point where there's no space in between their midsections and she grazes her lips across his neck. "What do you want, Drew?" she whispers into his ear.

Drew gulps again. "Tori, I-I want to end this," he says softly.

Tori takes a small step back and looks at him, she's not sure if she actually heard what she thinks she did. "Did he just say that he wanted to end this?" She wondered.

"I want to be with Clare," Drew states. "I-I don't know what I was doing with you...Clare is my wife and I love her. I can't keep doing this, sneaking around and having sex with you. Everyday, I feel guiltier and guiltier. I love her, and-and she loves me, too. I'm deeply sorry Tori. I hope you'll be okay with my decision."

Drew's words broke Tori's heart, but she did not cry. She knew she had to find a way to keep him. Tori shakes her head and asks, "Drew, are you serious about this?"

"Positive," he nods, "I-I cannot keep doing this to myself; especially to my wife, I fear what she'll think if she found out. That's why she can never know. That's why we need to break this off now."

On the inside, Tori is rolling her eyes at the mention of Clare. _"Clare, Clare Clare, that's all Drew cares about. I don't see why he is so obsessed with her. I am so much better for him than that cow is! He should be with me! Not her!"_ Tori ranted internally. She officially hated Clare with a burning passion. She hated that Drew chose Clare over her. She believed she loved him more. She wanted him to know how much she loved him.

"One more time," she mutters.

"Excuse me?"

"We have sex one more time, then you do whatever your heart tells you is right." Tor declares, in hopes that if she does him one more time -the most passionately she has ever done him- that that would persuade him to change his mind.

"Tori, I can't." He utters.

"Yes you can..." Tori whispers, then rams her lips against his.

* * *

Dave plops down on his hotel bed and takes out his phone and dials his wife, Alli,'s number. Once she answers, Dave greets, "Hey Babe."

"How was the meeting?" Alli asks Dave over the phone.

"Long," Dave breaths. "There was a lot of talking and other stuff that wouldn't spark any interest to you. Anyways, how was your day?"

'Horrible because you weren't here with me."

Dave chuckles lightly as he says, "I miss you, Alli."

"And obviously, I miss you too."

Dave smiles, "Well, I'm going to go talk to Drew. I'll call you in the morning before my flight back. Bye."

"Bye Dave."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Bye," Dave says, hanging up the phone. He sets his phone down on the bed, then hops off of his bed. He walks over to the desk and grabs his work folder. Dave heads out the door and goes to Drew's room which is 3 doors down (teehee).

As he's about to knock on Drew's door, he hears a soft moan of a woman's voice. "Drew..." her voice purs smoothly and softly, but loud enough that Dave can hear.

Dave's eyes widen when he begins to hear the moans turn into shrieks and high-pitched screaming sounds. He could not believe what he was hearing. He knew that on the other side of that door: Drew was possibly cheating on his wife with some woman.

Instead of knocking and/or intruding, Dave sprints back to his room and shuts the door.

* * *

In the morning, Dave sits at a table in the hotel's dining room. He had texted Drew to meet him in the diningroom this morning. Dave was beyond confused and disappointed. Dave knew that in high school Drew was sort of a player, but when he had started dating Clare, it seemed so serious; she changed him. He seemed to have become a better person, stuck to one girl, and only one girl. Clare. _"I guess it was all an act,"_ Dave thought. _"I wonder how long he was cheating on Clare? And was he ever planning on telling her?"_

Dave suddenly spots Drew approaching his table.

"Hey Dave." Drew smiles, sitting down in a seat across from Dave.

"Uh hey." Dave says, biting his lip, nervous of how Drew will react when he told him that he knew.

"So, what'd you want to talk to me about," Drew asks. "The meetings in an hour."

"Dave shakes his head, "No, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh."

Dave sighs, "Drew, I know - I heard you. Last night, I wanted to talk to you about the plans for the final meeting and stuff. I was outside your bedroom and I hear something. A woman." Drew stops breathing and his heart begins to beat rapidly in his chest as Dave continues, "Drew, please tell me you were not cheating on Clare and that you were just watching some pay per view porn!"

Drew shakes his head ashamed by his actions from last night and how he could have stopped Tori but didn't; his eyes become watery.

"Drew..." Dave says softly.

Drew looks up and pleads, "Please don't tell Clare. Dont tell her or Alli. Please."

"I wont." Dave promises.

"Really?"

"No, I wont," Dave assures Drew, causing Drew to let a small smile of relief cross his face. "You're going to tell her yourself." Dave adds sternly, then leaves the table.

Drew grimaces at what he feared the most: telling Clare the truth.

* * *

**This chapter was short, I guess.**

**I didn't wanna go over it.**

**(if I messed up I'll fix it later)**

**REVIEW!**

**Next Chapter: What happened with Eli and Clare while Drew was gone. (not much happened from what I wrote) **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

* * *

___[Girl:]_ Hello?

___[Jonny:]_ Hello...What colour are your fucking eyes?

___[____Girl:]_ Mine?

___[Jonny:]_ Yeah.

___[Girl:]_ Blue.

___[Jonny:]_ They're blue, for sure right?

___[Girl:]_ Yeah.

___[Jonny:]_ Alright, bye...Okay, let's go.

_"Blue Dream" - Dance Gavin Dance_

* * *

Clare sat glued to her chair and desk in her office at the Toronto Interpreter; she was editing and revising an article she was given by Mr. Fenton. As she was typing, her cellphone begins to buzz on her desk. She stops pressing on the computer's keys and picks up her phone. She furrows her brows at the unrecognizable number that flashed on her screen. Her index finger slides across the screen, accepting the call, then she holds it up to her ear. "Hello," she says casually.

"Hey Clare," the voice on the other end responds. The voice sounds a bit familiar to Clare, as if she's heard it before, but she couldn't identify the individual it had belonged to. "Um," the voice speaks up after 2 seconds, then states it's owner, "It's Eli, the painter from last night."

"Oh," she interjects, "hey Eli...just asking but how did you get my number?"

"Adam."

"Oh."

"Well," Eli huffs, "anyways, I was calling about painting and stuff, and I-I was wondering, do you want to do it today?"

Clare nods, "Um, sure, yeah. We can start today - after I get home from work. I get off at 2, but usually arrive home at 2:30. So I guess 3 o'clock - if that's okay with you. Do you know where I live?"

After Eli replies "no", Clare gives him her address and directions on how to get there without getting lost. They say their goodbyes and both hang up.

Clare thought nothing of the exchange she had just had with Eli; but Eli on the other hand was in awe over the simple conversation. He had managed to keep his composure while talking to Clare, but on the inside he was going crazy. The sound of her voice, when she had answered, had made Eli's heart skip a beat. Yes, he had a crush on her, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it.

There was 3 main reasons that kept Eli from pursuing Clare. 1. Clare was a married woman, and Eli didn't want to wreck a marriage, 2. Clare was Adam's sister-in law, and if he went after her, he'd lose his friendship with him, and 3. Clare was happily married - meaning that she'd never leave Drew for him.

* * *

Eli parks his hearse, Morty, in the Torres' - Clare and Drew's - drive way. He hops out of Morty, shutting the door behind him. As he approaches the mansion-like house, he takes a step back and gawks at the home. It was beautiful and humongous - not that he had never seen a house of this proportion; maybe on tv, or in magazines. Also his own house that he grew up in was fairly large.

When Eli was practically "kicked" out of his parents house for choosing the path of artistry instead of getting a normal college education, he was downgraded to an upscale loft. Eli continues on the stone walkway that leads to the front door. Once he reaches the front door his anxiety kicks in, but he rings the doorbell anyways and awaits for Clare to open the door.

Inside the house, Clare lies on the couch, channel surfing, when there's a she hears the doorbell ring. "_Drew_," she immediately thought, but then - sadly - remembers that he had left over two hours ago for his flight. Suddenly, she remembers that she had told Eli to meet her at 3; and it was now 3:24. Clare slumps her body off of the couch, makes her way to the front door, and opens the door.

The door swings open Eli catches sight of Clare standing in the doorway. She wore a pair of blue jeans, a black v-neck shirt, and her hair was down and a bit messy. Eli glances down at Clare's bare feet and smiles at her toenails, which were decorated in hot pink nail polish. He looks back up. "Hey," he greets her, smiling.

"Hey Eli," she says normally, her voice seemingly pausing Eli's heart yet again. He was mesmerized by Clare in every way; her voice, even such a normal tone had the ability to cause him to melt; her beauty, and how she managed to look outstanding in expensive clothing and in regular casual wear; her eyes - Eli's favorite thing about her -, were beautiful blue orbs that he just wanted to gaze into all day.

"_God. She's so beautiful_," Eli swooned internally.

Snapping Eli out of his trance, Clare opens the door wider and invites him inside. He takes a step inside and when he passes her, she shuts the door.

"Nice pad," Eli compliments Clare on her home as he beholds the crystal chandelier dangling from the high ceiling.

Clare thanks him. She knew that her house was an extremely nice one to own at her age - such a young age (25). It wasn't a million dollars, more around $290,000+. Cost her and Drew quite a lot, but they thought it was worth it.

After a few seconds, Eli asks Clare what rooms she had wanted to be painted and she gives him a tour of the rooms that she wanted done. She guided him to the bathroom on level one, then her office what was near that area, then she escorted him down into the basement and presented the bathroom, then they went back upstairs to the level one, then continued going upstairs, she showed him the bathroom in the hall, and after, led him to her and Drew's bathroom to let him get a look at the bathroom. As Eli enters the bedroom his eyes dart to the bed that belonged to Mr. & Mrs. Torres - Clare and Drew.

Eli felt his envy for Drew grew at the thought of him getting to share a bed with Clare every night. "Lucky bastard," he cursed internally. He grimaces and follows Clare into the bathroom. His eyes widen in amazement as he beholds the bathroom. "Nice lookin' bathroom," he smirks.

"Thanks. I'm debating whether I want to repaint it or not - I think it actually looks fine."

"It does. You shouldn't redo it." Eli replies genuinely. Her really did like the look of the bathroom; it had tan floor tile and tile leading up to half of the wall. Then the remainder of the wall that was not invaded with tile was covered in an eggshell color of paint. The bathroom had his and her sinks, and a toilet that was off to the side while the shower - which had a glass door - was in the corner. The shower was big enough for three to four people and had a detachable shower head.

Eli twists his lips and wonders if Clare and Drew had ever shared that shower together - which they have (many times).

"I think we should do your office first," Eli blurts, "It's always good to get the biggest space out of the way. We'll go to Home Depot, get the supplies and paint, I'll go home and change, then we'll come back here and get started. Okay?"

Clare nods in agreement and they go down the stairs. Clare slips on a pair of her sneakers that sit at the front door and Eli opens the door. She and Eli escape the house; Eli goes straight for Morty while Clare freezes at the sight of the hearse parked in her driveway that she had not noticed before. "Theres no way I'm getting in to that _death mobile._"

Eli rolls his eyes and corrects her. "His name is Morty, not _that death mobile._" Even though he did have a crush on her, he wasnt going to let Clare call his baby out of his name. "Just get in, you're not going to die." Clare scoffs and did as Eli had commands; she gets into the car and Eli smirks.

* * *

After he and Clare had gathered all they needed from Home Depot, Eli drove into his loft's building's parking garage and snagged his usual spot. He planned to go run into his loft, change, and go back with Clare to her house to paint.

Eli parks his hearse and unfasten his seatbelt. "Wait here," he cautions Clare, "I'll be back, I'm going to change my clothes." Clare nods and Eli exits the car and jogs to the door, entering the building. Once out of sight, Clare scoffs and begins to unbuckle her seatbelt. _"There is no way in hell I am going to sit in this car ALONE in an empty parking garage; I've seen far way too many scary movies to allow myself to be placed in a situation where a possible killer can attack/kill me. No, I wont take that chance..."_

With thinking that, Clare leaves out of the "death mobile" - not even a minute after Eli had - and quickly sprints to the door that leads into the building; she walks down a hallway then enters the lobby. She approaches the front desk in which a balding man in a suit is; he smiles at her and asks, "How can I help you ma'am?"

"Can I please have the room number of Eli Goldsworthy?"

The man gives her a strange look. "And you are?"

"Clare. Clare Torress...his, uh, sister."

The man twists his lips at her hesitated response. He knew who Eli was, but unsure if Mr. Goldsworthy had any siblings, or any that visited. Despite this, the man begins to search the "Eli Goldsworthy" name into the system. "Ahh," he says as Eli's account and information pops up onto the screen of his computer, "fourth floor. Room 116. In fact, I think I just saw him go up the elevator a few minutes ago." Clare thanks the man and goes to the elevator and pressed the button labeled "4".

There was a ding signifying that she was on the fourth floor. The elevator's doors slowly gape open and Clare steps out; she starts searching for a door with the numbers 116 on them. After passing 4 doors, she finally finds Eli's loft. She notices that the door is cracked open a little and she interprets that as an invitation to let herself in; so she does. As Clare pushes the door open and crossed the threshold, she feels her mood change drastically. She look of Eli's home causes her put upon vibes of slight depression.

It was a nice loft - space and room wise -, but its appearance was shocking. There was junk everywhere: paper, painting, food, books, clothes,...and other junk. _"What the fuck is this,"_ Clare curses mentally as she examines the "mess" that is Eli's loft. Clare had not known that Eli was a hoarder. I mean, how would she, she had not known the guy that long. Oh, and not only was the his loft cluttered, it also had a disheartening feel to it. The walls were painted black and the furniture he had were themed from the colors black, white, and red. His loft gave Clare shivers that ran down her spine and made her afraid, yet sad. She knew this was a probable result of the loss of his girlfriend who had died, Julia.

While looking around and trying to avoid tripping and possibly breaking something - like a bone -, she comes across a painting siting on an easel. It is a portrait of a woman, a young woman. The woman has long black hair and bangs that went straight across her forehead; she had a blank expression in the image and a hard stare that made Clare feel as if she was staring directly and intensely at her; she had a black leather jacket on and her arms were crossed; and over the beautifully vivid portrait there was a shocking red streak of paint. This was Julia, and Clare had finally noticed.

"Clare," a voice says sharply causing Clare to jump and turn around; it was Eli. He was now dressed in a multi-colored paint stained, white t-shirt, ragged blue jeans with a blue bandana sticking out of his pocket, and black boots on. "What are you doing in here?" he questions her. "I told you to wait in the car."

"I-" was all Clare managed to get out before Eli cuts her off and tells her they should go.

Clare and Eli sit in silence during their car ride back to her Clare's home. They pull up to a train track but stops as bright flashing red lights come on and a red and white stripped stick lowers, meaning a train is coming. Eli sighs and Clare thinks it is a perfect time to talk to Eli about...his problem - Julia. The train sttarts moving across the racks in front of the hearse and Clare inquires, "Was that Julia in the picture?" Yes it was a stupid question to ask considering she knew that that was - in fact - Julia.

Eli grips the steering wheel tighter. "Yeah."

"Eli..., I seriously am sorry."

"I know...me too. But enoguh with that, lets just drop this subject, and go back to your housee and paint -like we're supposed to,"

The train passes, the stripped beam lets up, and Eli drives Morty to Clare's.

* * *

Once they got home - to the Torres residence -, Clare had changed into jean shorts, a plain white tee, and put her hair up into a bun. After she came back down stairs, she had saw Eli already evacuating her desk chair out of her home office; Clare helps and begins moving her stuff out. Possibly 20 minutes later,Clare and Eli had managed cleared everything out of Clare's office and set down newspapers and pasted blue tape around the edges of windows in the room.

Eli then pries open the yellow can of paint that Clare had decided would be the color of her office. He peels off the cap and pours it into the tray. He picks up two paint rollers and politely hands them to Clare ads if they were flowers. "For you, my dear." Eli jokes and Clare blushes.

"Why thank you Mr. Goldsworthy." Clare swoons sweetly and playfully. They both giggle and begin painting. Clare liked the fact that it seemed like she and Eli were bonding, becoming real friends; also did Eli, he could be her friend even though he really wanted something more. He shrugged it off and thought, "Theres nothing wrong with befriending a girl who you have a thing for." But then he questioned himself, "Is there?"

30 minutes into painting Clare finds herself exhausted and extremely bored from painting the walls. "This is so monotonous!" Clare sighs, throwing her head back.

Eli smirks, "Nice word choice. And if you're so bored, don't paint. You don't have to, I can do this by myself."

"Nah, I have to help. I don't wanna let you do this on your own."

"Okay."

Seconds pass on and Clare's boredom is back. Suddenly, she gets a funny idea that'll cure the boredom and make her painting experience more eventful. "Hey Eli," she calls out.

Eli turns to her. "Wha-"

He is cut off by Clare running her yellow, paint covered roller up from the stomach of his shirt to th e bottom of his chin, which he tilts us when he realizes that Clare is using him as a canvas. Clare pulls the roller back to herself and smiles at Eli. "You look nice now."

"HA, very funny," Eli says sarcastically. "You know what? I can make you look better, too"

_"Even though you are already as beautiful as can be..."_

Eli bends down, soaks his paint roller into the tray of paint, and brings u p to Clare's cheek. "Bloop," he chimes as he swiped it softly across her face, "the yellow on your face really brings out your eyes."

Clare runs her roller across his faces and adds, "Brings out yours too." Eli grins and then a massive and fun paint war breaks out.

* * *

**A/N: I think for a 14 yr old, I am a pretty good writer (minus my sucky word choice skills)**

**Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.**

**It's an EClare friendship ablooming.**

**Then, maybe complications; havent thought of what to write next...**

**But anyways, review!**


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